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“Alright, now that’s it for your annual check up, Atsushi.” Yosano said, tapping her clipboard with her pen, “Just one last part though, could you look over these files? I just need to make sure that it’s all correct for your medical records.”
“Of course,” Atsushi agreed, grabbing the clipboard with the medical records.
Atsushi’s legs dangled off of the hospital bed he was relaxing on.
It was just another normal day at the agency, Dazai tormenting Kunikida with his classic acts of mishap, Kenji giving out the produce he grew to agency members, the clerks gossiping about shows and agency members, it was all normal. Just how Atsushi liked it.
The only difference about today was that Atsushi had to have a check up with Yosano.
He wasn’t really fond of the check ups often–mainly because he hated the feeling of being exposed in such a way. The scars from his orphanage and his somewhat skinny figure being a topic of discussion was never something he liked.
Although, he is glad now that he is on a better diet, going outside and getting good exercise more often than he was, and it was all thanks to Yosano.
Yosano has been a great friend to Atsushi for a while. Sure, Atsushi did think Yosano was pretty scary and he never got good vibes from doctors in the past, but she has shown him that you can truly trust a person once you get to know them and see another side of them.
During the check up they had just been going over simple items like weight and height. After that they started to focus on how Atsushi was eating now, how have his missions been doing health wise, how many times his leg has gotten cut off in the past few months, and if his bad habits from the orphanage have gotten any better.
In all, some questions were harder to answer than others, but Yosano made sure to make it not too uncomfortable.
“So, is all of the information on there correct?” Yosano asked, moving towards Atsushi’s side to see the files.
“Yep, only one is incorrect.”
“Oh, really? Which one?”
“My birthday, here it says May sixth.”
“I guess it does. If that was true I should’ve gotten you a present already cause that would be tomorrow. Well, could you tell me when it is so I know when to celebrate–”
“May fifth.” Atsushi intercepted in a very deadpan voice, his eyes locked onto the paper.
“May fifth, that will be in–hold up today is your birthday!?” Yosano exclaimed, immediately snatching the papers from Atsushi’s hands.
“Eh–oh–I guess it is, I didn’t realize.”
“Didn’t realize–! Well, you should’ve said something sooner, we don’t have time to plan!”
“Plan what?” Atsushi asked as Yosano frantically ran around the room, crossing out the date on the papers and putting away items she put out.
“Your birthday party, of course!” Yosano gave a big smile to Atsushi before running out to where the rest of the agency members laid.
Atsushi could hear muffles of loud gasps and the sound of Yosano yelling about a birthday, but Atsushi still looked down.
The gray color of the floor was all Atsushi could see as he whispered to himself.
“A birthday party?”
—------
The following events went something like this; Dazai putting on an exaggerated act saying, “How could you not tell me!”Kunikida and the Tanizaki’s wishing him a happy birthday, Kunikida scolding him on the importance of telling important dates ahead of time, and Fukuzawa giving him the day off, but telling him to come back to the agency at three.
This left Atsushi lost.
In the middle of Yokohama.
Naomi shoved him out of the agency saying he should go out to enjoy himself.
Kyouka told him to enjoy himself and forced him out of the house.
So Atsushi took a train,
And then another train,
And another,
Until he took a taxi,
Then he took another train.
Now he’s lost.
“I probably should’ve thought this through…” Atsushi groaned as he strolled through busy streets in a shopping district by the port that he somehow got to.
He had never been here, but it seemed like an event was happening this week, so many merchants and crafts people took time to set up stalls.
Some items were intriguing to Atsushi to the point he bought some items himself. Although he mainly just bought stuff for agency members.
Out of everything he bought, only one small item wasn’t for an agency member, a small moon earring. It was pitch black and matched a white sun one that Atsushi bought.
He didn’t know why he bought the pair of matching earrings, he had no need for them. Sure he had ear piercings but he never wore earrings all that much.
The earrings just called to him, and he knew why, he knew who he wanted to give the moon to, but he couldn’t admit it aloud. He was too scared to face his own feelings even now that he completely accepts them. There is still a place in his heart that injects fear to his blood every time he thinks about them.
He over thinks, he thinks of the worst outcome, he worries about losing the one who should gain the moon earring.
He shoots out the thoughts almost immediately, it’s almost three he should try to find his way back.
—---
The colorful stalls were difficult to get around, but once Atsushi was able to pull out the map app on his phone it was pretty easy to find another train.
The train was packed as he tried to get in.
“Ack–sorry,” Atsushi said as he bumped into a man head to toe in black, “I should’ve watched where I was going”
“It’s fine.” The man responded. He seemed familiar, but his tinted glasses, mask, and hat made it hard to see his face. His voice was also hard to make out between the chatter of passengers on the train.
Atsushi sat on one of the seats.
This train should take me straight to the station near the agency…right?
DING!
“Hmm?” A message from the president!? He barely ever contacts me unless it’s for something important, did a new case come up? I better head back quickly.
Opening the message only one sentence laid,
Fukuzawa Yukichi: “Please head back to the agency.”
Oh, something bad must’ve happened. Atsushi started to bite his nail as the man took a glance at him.
Atsushi felt the man’s intense gaze, but right now the only thing that was of importance was getting back to the agency as quickly as possible.
—----
As soon as the train got to his stop he darted out of there. He even used his ability slightly for better speed.
Turn after turn he took before he was panting in front of the agency building.
Inside the cafe manager smiled at Atsushi and gave him a slight nod before Atsushi got into the elevator. Quickly pressing the button to get to the fourth floor.
He readied his tiger arms in case of battle.
As the doors opened the Agency was dark. Only subtle sounds of creaking and movement were heard before the room suddenly glowed with light.
“Happy birthday, Atsushi!” The agency members eagerly exclaimed as Atsushi looked around the agency.
It was decked out in party decor, streamers and banners up everywhere. The desks were moved so that they were all in the middle as a large vanilla cake was on the desks.
All of the agency members were holding gifts as Atsushi undid his ability.
“What…?” Atsushi walked into the middle of the room as he was embraced into a big hug by Kenji and Dazai.
“C’mon, excited for your birthday party!?” Dazai asked as he shoved a gift into Atsushi’s face.
“This is a birthday party…for me?”
“Of course! Anyway, first we need to eat the cake!” Dazai smiled.
The cake was plain, store bought, a large “Happy birthday!” was written in icing on the cake while several candles were lit.
All of the agency members stared at Atsushi, anticipating something.
“Blow out the candles.” Ranpo whispered loud enough for Atsushi to hear.
Taking a deep breath he thought of when he saw others do this. He always heard about people making wishes when blowing out the candles, but he wasn’t too sure. It was all happening so fast this wasn’t what he was expecting.
My…wish…
Taking a deep breath he blew out the candles, their fires dimming into nothing.
As Kenji and Dazai latched off of him, and everyone else started cutting the cake, giving out slices, Atsushi stood right where he was before.
The tables were covered with drinks of wine and punch and a few pizza boxes.
“Hm–!” Atsushi looked behind him as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
“Here,” Ranpo said, holding a plate of cake to Atsushi, “we eat the cake after you blow out the candles. Also here is your gift.” As Atsushi grabbed the cake Ranpo showed him a gift bag which he took as well.
—---
Atsushi sat at the table in his house as Kyouka slept. Scrolling on his phone.
The party lasted long until night, as Yosano and Dazai ended up indulging in wine to the point they got a bit too drunk to be driven home.
By the end of the party Atsushi had several gifts in his hands and several other gifts he didn’t have time to give to the other agency members.
The walk home wasn’t easy either, the amount of gifts he held were heavy, but once Atsushi was in his small little apartment with Kyouka he was finally able to put down the gifts.
The rest of the time was small, he opened gifts, Kyouka fell asleep, and he–well–didn’t fall asleep.
DING! DONG!
“Who’s at the door?”
Atsushi made his way to the door, grabbing his brown coat before opening the door to see–
“Weretiger,”
“Eh–!? Akutagawa!?” Atsushi said, taking a few steps back as his rival stood at his door.
“Yes, now may I come in–”
“No! Just–” Atsushi pushed Akutagawa out as he went outside himself. Putting on his coat he grabbed Akutagawa by the arm and dragged him away from the agency dorms before they found a small bench to sit at.
“Alright, Akutagawa,” Atsushi said, his brows furrowing, “what are you doing here?”
“Well you dragged me here from your apartment.”
“No, I meant why were you at my apartment in the first place?”
“Oh, well it’s May fifth, it’s your birthday, is it not?” Akutagawa said, as he put a hand in his pocket, trying to grab something.
“It is, but how do you know, and why would you want to find me on my birthday?” Atsushi asked while his shoulder brushed against Akutagawa’s as they sat on the bench in the cold night’s breeze.
Akutagawa pulled out a small gift box from his pocket and showed it to Atsushi. The wrapping seemed expensive, gold and black with a small white bow.
“On birthdays people give gifts, so here is my gift to you.” Atsushi looked at the gift suspiciously as Akutagawa’s dark looked down.
“Y–you’re seriously giving me a gift? You don’t want something in return–are you sure this isn’t something you're doing to try and kill me?”
Akutagawa rolled his eyes at those words, “Is it that hard to think I'm giving you something without any consequences?” Atsushi looked back guiltily before nodding as Akutagawa sighed.
“You know, I don’t have to give you the gift–”
“No–! I mean, why do you want to give me a gift?” A silence stretched between the two before Akutagawa let out his hand. Akutagawa gave a small nod with his hand, signaling to Atsushi to put his hand in Akutagawa’s.
Atsushi hesitated before he rested his hand in Akutagawa’s. His hand was cold, but it got warmed up by Atsushi’s. Atsushi could feel a small creep of blush grow across his face as they sat like that for longer before Akutagawa put the gift in Atsushi’s hand.
Atsushi undid the ribbon carefully, taking off the top to the small box, before he saw a shiny piece of jewelry in there. It was a brooch of beautiful yellow and purple colors, in a diamond like shape.
Taking the brooch from the case Atsushi could see something engraved on the back.
“ ‘A.N.’,” Atsushi whispered under his breath as Akutagawa looked away.
“Your initials are A.N…so I got them to put it on the back.” Akutagawa explained as Atsushi looked at the colors.
“This seems so expensive, should I pay you back or–”
“Seriously? You're acting as though you’ve never gotten a birthday gift before.” Atsushi looked away with a guilty expression until Akutagawa looked back, concerned, “Have you never gotten a birthday gift before?”
“N–no I have, today the agency members gave me gifts! It’s just that…today was the first day I ever celebrated my birthday and I’ve never gotten such a lavish gift.”
“You had never celebrated your birthday before?”
“Yep, it wasn’t something we did in the orphanage, I never actually knew that people celebrated them until we celebrated Fukuzawa’s birthday earlier this January. The agency threw me a party but…I don’t know–I am grateful but it was confusing. Like, why would you celebrate the day you were born? I’m sure I'll get used to celebrating it, but I will have to wait a few years.” Atsushi said before chuckling.
“I never celebrated my birthday until I was in the port mafia,” Akutagawa said, looking down, “Chuuya and Gin celebrated with me this year. It was small but it reminded me that even if I haven’t lived the best life, that I am still alive and others like that.”
“Is that what a birthday is supposed to celebrate?”
“It celebrates whatever you want it to celebrate.”
“I see, what about the presents, why are those given?”
“Well, I guess to show that you appreciate that person and truly trust and care for them.” At these words Atsushi immediately looked at Akutagawa in shock, a blush forming on his face again. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just you gave me a gift…does that mean you care for me?” Realizing his words Akutagawa immediately was at a loss for words. The words Akutagawa had been wanting to tell Atsushi for months lumped in his throat, refusing to choke out.
“I–I…” He bit his lip, taking a deep breath, “Weretiger, you have been my rival for almost a year now. We have both fought each other and fought alongside each other, but we have also saved each other…too many times to count. This year has allowed me to trust you, with both my life and…and my heart.”
“Your heart?” Atsushi started to feel a sense of fear creep across his body, but a sense of anticipation grew as well.
“What I am trying to say is, you have been on my mind, more than any normal rival should be on one's mind. I know what I say next you will not agree with, but I need to get it off my chest before I go. Weretiger–no, Atsushi Nakajima, from the power you showed me the first time we met to the strength you have grown to have now. From your delicate white hair to your kind and uplifting personality. I–I love you, Atsushi, and I have been for a while turn me down if you want but–”
“I love you too.”
“What…” Akutagawa looks back at an Atsushi who was covering his face.
“I–I’m sorry, I should’ve said it better um–I feel the same. Like I like, like you.”
“So, what does this make us Weretiger?”
“W–well if you are okay with it, could we date?”
“Be boyfriend and boyfriend?” Akutagawa said as Atsushi nodded. “I would like that…a lot.” A rare smile appeared on his face as Atsushi fidgeted with the brooch.
“By the way, do you know how to put this on?” Atsushi asked, holding out the brooch to Akutagawa. Akutagawa took the brooch and rested his hand on Atsushi’s tie.
Undoing the tie, letting it fall onto Atsushi’s lap, Akutagawa’s fingers laid on Atsushi's chest before he scooted closer to the tiger. He took the ribbon that came with the brooch, put it across Atsushi’s collar before clipping the brooch.
His hands stayed there for a while before he looked up at Atsushi. They made eye contact for a second before they both looked away.
“Th–thanks…” Atsushi said, his hand falling towards the brooch, “one question though, should we keep this relationship a secret?”
“I–” Akutagawa stops, his eyes wandering, looking for an answer before landing back on the Weretiger, “I feel we should agree on the answer, but in my opinion we probably should. The Port Mafia and Agency are still rivals themselves, and who knows what Mori might do if he figures out about us. Your reputation could be tarnished as well. We probably would also need to still try and kill each other and what not when others are around, but I do live alone though, so you could always drop by and we wouldn’t have to pretend and keep it a secret.”
“I agree, that’s probably the best idea.” Atsushi said, a slight hint of disappointment in his voice, before feeling something in his pant pocket, “Oh, wait Akutagawa,”
“Yes?”
“I–I have something for you too!” Atsushi quickly grabbed the small bag with the earrings inside and took out the moon one. “Here, happy late birthday, sorry that I missed it.”
Akutagawa stared at the moon earring for a second before taking it himself and putting it on.
“It’s fine that you missed it…and thank you. Does this mean you care for me too?”
“W–well we are dating now so it makes sense that I would…” Atsushi points out, “and I have for a while now,” He says in a low whisper.
Akutagawa’s eyes widened for a second before going back to normal and asking, “Also is there something else in that bag?”
“Oh, yeah it’s kind of embarrassing but it was the other pair to it.” Atsushi took the bag and let the sun earring into his hand, “I thought it would be cute if I had the sun and you had the moon.”
“Put it on then.”
“But if we are keeping it a secret and people start realizing we are wearing matching earrings we could get figured out–”
“It should be fine, they don’t even look super similar in color or design, so most won’t realize.” Akutagawa says, leaning closer to look at the earring. Akutagawa’s eyes gazed up at Atsushi's as he put the earring on.
“Done–oh?”
DING!
“Kyouka texted me,” Atsushi said as he checked the message, his smile dropped for a second before he built it back up, “I gotta go back home. Sorry, Kyouka just noticed and–” Atsushi tried to get up from the bench before he felt a tug on his sleeve.
Akutagawa looked up at the now standing Atsushi before hesitating at his brooch. Akutagawa’s hand moved up from the brooch to his collar before tugging it so they were face to face.
Akutagawa moved a bit closer before going back. His breath hitched before he spoke, “Can I kiss–”
Before he could finish he felt the feeling of his lips together on Atsushi’s. A small shock went over him before Atsushi broke the kiss, stumbling back.
“Aha…sorry that was what you wanted, right?” Atsushi asked as Akutagawa looked at him with bliss in his eyes.
Akutagawa immediately got up from his seat and cupped Atsushi’s face, bringing him into a kiss. Atsushi brought his hand to Akutagwa’s hair, grabbing it slightly to deepen the kiss.
Akutagawa bit Atsushi's bottom lip before panting slightly as they pulled away. Atsushi gave a warm smile to the black haired man in front of him.
“Want my phone number before I leave?” Atsushi asked and gave a very fast Akutagawa nod.
—---
After they exchanged contact info, the walk back to Atsushi’s place was comforting. They walked hand in hand until they stopped just where nobody from the agency dorms could see them.
“So, see you next week?” Atsushi says fiddling with his fingers.
“Yep, and happy nineteenth birthday, Weretiger.” Akutagawa closes some of the distance as he lands a quick kiss on the cheek to Atsushi before walking off.